


Pumpkin Pie Pains

by VampAmber



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Complete, Dean Loves Pie, Divorce, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Gay Jimmy Novak, Hallowsgiving, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, SPN Rare Ships Creation Challenge, Slice of Life, Thanksgiving Dinner, canon Jimmy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 10:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12862812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampAmber/pseuds/VampAmber
Summary: “Pie! We forgot to make the pumpkin pie, Dean,” Jimmy fretted as he fussed with all the other foods that were in different states of completion. “You can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without pumpkin pie for dessert!”Dean hugged his fiance from behind and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Jimmy, seriously, you need to chill,” Dean gently reprimanded him. “Claire’s bringing the pie. You know that. Amelia’s told you that at least half a dozen times in the past few weeks. Everything is fine. We got this.” Dean smiled when he felt Jimmy finally relax a little in his hold.“I know,” Jimmy sighed. “It’s just… Everything has to be perfect. When me and Ames were still married, Thanksgiving was this huge, elaborate deal every year. That woman would put Martha Stewart to shame with the turkey and all the trimmings she’d put on the table. Claire’s never had a Thanksgiving that wasn’t like that. Your food’s good, Dean, but it’s not her mom’s,” he explained.





	Pumpkin Pie Pains

**Author's Note:**

> This is my other fic for the [SPN Rare Ship Creation Challenge](http://rareshipcreationschallenge.tumblr.com/). My prompt was **allspice and pumpkin pie** , and as the title kind of gives it away, I went with the pie (mostly because Dean). Next month, I have three fics for the challenge, another Dimmy, a DCJ, and a Sabriel. Those should be interesting.
> 
> As for this fic, when I signed up for it, I knew that I wanted to try writing canon!Jimmy instead of fic!Jimmy (fic!Jimmy tends to be fairly Misha like, to give you an idea). Hopefully it turned out okay-ish?

Dean let out a sigh as he watched his boyfriend pace back and forth nervously. No matter how many times he’d reassured Jimmy that everything was going to be just fine today, he wouldn’t listen. As much Dean he loved the guy, he would never deny that he had some massive anxiety issues. Today being the perfect example.

They’d been together for almost two years now, but this would be their first Thanksgiving with Jimmy’s daughter from his former marriage, Claire. And they’d been engaged for over a month, but Jimmy was still worried that Claire would be upset that Dean was trying to take her mother’s place. Mind you, at sixteen Claire was upset over just about everything on the planet in some way or another, but that was another thing that Jimmy didn’t listen to when Dean kept telling it to him over and over.

“Pie! We forgot to make the pumpkin pie, Dean,” Jimmy fretted as he fussed with all the other foods that were in different states of completion. “You can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without pumpkin pie for dessert!”

Dean hugged his fiance from behind and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Jimmy, seriously, you need to chill,” Dean gently reprimanded him. “Claire’s bringing the pie. You know that. Amelia’s told you that at least half a dozen times in the past few weeks. Everything is fine. We got this.” Dean smiled when he felt Jimmy finally relax a little in his hold.

“I know,” Jimmy sighed. “It’s just… Everything has to be perfect. When me and Ames were still married, Thanksgiving was this huge, elaborate deal every year. That woman would put Martha Stewart to shame with the turkey and all the trimmings she’d put on the table. Claire’s never had a Thanksgiving that wasn’t like that. Your food’s good, Dean, but it’s not her mom’s,” he explained.

“She’s sixteen, she’s a big girl. I’m sure she can handle one Winchester-made turkey without crumbling to dust and blowing away in the wind from disappointment,” Dean told him, hugging him even tighter. “Besides, isn’t her mom doing the whole shebang for her side of the family on Saturday?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy replied, relaxing the rest of the way. “I’m just nervous. I really want her to like you.”

“I could be saint-like and she’d still see me as the evil step-father, I’m sure,” Dean joked. “I remember being sixteen. Dad had been married to Kate for a long time by then, and I still hated her because she wasn’t Mom. At least Claire won’t have to deal with any half-siblings like me and Sam did. I’m sure we probably left Adam with some permanent emotional scars with how we treated him growing up. To this day he still shudders if he sees pancake syrup whenever me or Sam visits.”

“Adam seems fine now,” Jimmy pointed out as he stirred the pot of boiling potatoes that would probably need to be mashed fairly soon.

“Only because we lived in different states and could only torture him during the holidays,” Dean said with a snort.

“The fact of which he was most likely thankful for on a daily basis, I’m sure,” Jimmy responded, smirking. Dean laughed and nodded his agreement.

“I’m sure me and Claire’ll get along just fine,” Dean said into Jimmy’s neck before giving him a few more G-rated kisses. She’d be here in less than twenty minutes, and Dean sure didn’t want to traumatize her by seeing her dad’s tented trousers.

“She’s refused to even meet you until now, and she only agreed this time because her mother bribed her with very expensive concert tickets,” Jimmy reminded him as he stopped stirring to lean into the kisses.

“Remind me to pay Amelia back for those soon,” Dean said as he switched to nuzzling.

“She already told you no when you offered the first time, so I’m not asking again.” The contented sigh Jimmy let out as soon as he was done speaking kind of ruined the stern tone, though.

“But I feel guilty,” Dean whined.

“Buy her an awesome Christmas present, then. She can’t refuse that,” Jimmy suggested. “I know she still hasn’t bought that new mixer she’s been drooling over.”

Dean turned Jimmy around and gave him a loud, theatrical kiss on the lips. “You are a genius!” He proclaimed just as loudly. “This is why I love you, you know.”

“So you don’t have to think of your own ideas?” Jimmy teased.

“Exactly,” Dean said before kissing him one last time. “Gives me more time to do the important stuff. Like check on the turkey.” He pulled away to do just that, and the two spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence, getting everything ready for dinner.

When the doorbell rang, Jimmy held Dean’s shoulder to keep him from answering it. “Let me get that.”

When Jimmy opened the door, his daughter pounced on him and gave him a suffocating hug. “Daddy!” She shouted. Jimmy had the distinct impression that she was just putting on a show to let Dean know who he really ‘belonged’ to, since she had stopped calling him daddy by the time she was ten. But he let it slide this time, because he wanted to forestall any arguing for as long as possible today.

“Heya, Claire-bear,” he said instead, then stepped to the side to let his ex-wife into the house as well. Amelia greeted him warmly with a hug of her own, then went to put the pie she was carrying in the kitchen.

Their marriage had been a relatively happy one, and Amelia had been completely understanding and even supportive of Jimmy when he had realized that he was actually gay five years ago. There were no hurt feelings, which Jimmy was very glad about. They’d stayed friends after the divorce, and she’d even ended up befriending Dean. The two Food Network addicts were probably discussing turkey in the kitchen at this very moment.

Claire had been completely supportive as well, until Jimmy had started dating Dean. He’d gone on plenty of dates before then, but Dean had been his first serious relationship. She never actually complained to her parents, but she acted like Dean was the worst monster that had ever existed. It was obvious that she was jealous, but knowing why she was acting so mean didn’t make Jimmy feel any better about it. “I think there’s a boy at school that has a crush on me,” she bragged, dumping her coat next to the coat rack instead of hanging it up, just like she always used to do. “He blushes every time I talk to him.”

“But you can’t date yet,” Jimmy responded with an over-exaggerated gasp worthy of a soap opera. “You’re still my little girl.”

“Dad, I’m sixteen,” she said in an exasperated teenager voice.

“See? Still little,” Jimmy said in triumph. “Maybe after you graduate college, I’ll consider it.” Claire stuck her tongue out at him as he chuckled at his own joke.

“I had my first girlfriend when I was fourteen,” Dean said, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, Amelia behind him.

Claire’s expression immediately hardened. “Maybe sixteen is too young to be dating, after all,” she said stiffly, before going into the front room and flopping down on the couch. The sounds of the television being turned on showed exactly the kind of holiday dinner Dean and Jimmy could probably expect.

“She’s been running hot and cold all day,” Amelia said in apology. “Sorry for dumping this on you guys.”

“No worries, Sam had his bitchy teenage girl moments often enough when we were growing up. I’m used to it by now,” Dean joked, and they all laughed.

“Just remember that if things get too bad, I still have those tickets and I made sure to ask about their refund policy,” Amelia said as she gave them each one last hug before leaving. “Just because she’s a teenager, that doesn’t give her the right to ruin your holiday.”

“We should be just fine, Ames,” Jimmy reassured her. “I’m used to Claire’s moods, remember?”

“This one’s shaping up to be the worst, though,” she warned them. They both nodded, and she finally closed the door behind her.

“Should we be worried?” Jimmy asked, his bravery demolished now that his wasn’t trying to reassure Amelia.

“Naw,” Dean dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. “She’s grumpy now, but nobody can be grumpy when eating my delicious cooking.”

Dean was proven terribly wrong a few minutes later, when dinner was served and Claire was magically in an even more sour mood than before. It takes a pouting teenager to be able to glare at you while simultaneously eating turkey and stuffing. She ignored every attempt Dean made at starting up a conversation, and only answered Jimmy’s attempts with monosyllabic answers and the occasional grunt or nod where appropriate.

“My mom’s food is better,” she said as she picked at the green beans that Dean had taken great care in making as perfect as possible.

“Good for her, then,” Dean grumbled, his mood shot to hell after almost an entire meal of stony silence intermingled with the occasional thinly veiled insult.

“My mom’s pretty much better at everything,” Claire said, putting her fork down. “And if you think you could ever take her place, you’re insane.”

“He’s not trying to take Amelia’s place,” Jimmy started, but Dean held up his hand to silence him.

“I got this, Jimmy,” Dean said, giving his fiance a kind look. Then he turned towards Claire and asked “What makes you think I’m trying to take her place?”

“You guys are gonna get married,” Claire responded, as if that explained everything.

“Just because your dad will be my husband, that doesn’t mean I’m trying to take your mom’s place,” Dean said back. Not exactly normal dinner conversation, but at least now they had a chance of actually working things out and he wasn’t going to pass that up.

“Yes it does, because you’re gonna try and be a dad to me, and I’m perfectly happy having just my parents,” she said, giving him a death glare. “Nobody asked me if I was okay with any of this. At least when Dad was just dating randomly, I didn’t have to worry about step-parents or any of that stuff. My friend Krissy has a step-mom who’s annoying and constantly trying to get her to do stuff she hates. I don’t want any more parents because I have enough already.” Her volume had gone up the longer she spoke, until she was quite loud by the end.

“Claire-bear, I wish you had said something before now,” Jimmy said, any anger he’d been feeling completely washed away.

Claire sniffled lightly. “Why’d you have to leave Mom, anyway? You guys were happy together.”

Dean sighed as Jimmy got up to give his daughter a hug. It all made sense now.

“We were happy, but not with each other,” Jimmy explained.

“You could’ve been, if you’d just tried harder,” Claire said.

“I love your mother, but I wasn’t in love with her,” Jimmy pointed out. “It took me a long time to realize it, sweetheart, but after I figured out I was gay it wouldn’t have been fair to either of us to stay together.”

“Sometimes people just aren’t right for each other, and they end up splitting up a family when they discover that,” Dean said, coming over to stand next to them. “They don’t want to split the family up, but they don’t want to be together either. It’s a crappy decision either way, but they still try to do what they think is the best way. My own mom and dad split up when I was a lot younger than you, Claire, and it was weird in the beginning, but I got used to it. My dad’s happy with his new wife and I got another brother out of that, and my mom’s happiest by herself. It’s just how things go.”

“It’s not how I wanted it, though,” she said weakly.

“If I could have made any of this easier, I would’ve Claire,” Jimmy promised. “But this is how it is, and there’s nothing that can be done to change it.”

Claire hugged her father harder. She wasn’t crying, but she looked pretty close.

“Was my food really that bad, or was that all just an act?” Dean tried joking to lighten the mood. Claire let out a tiny laugh, though, so it apparently worked.

“It was pretty good,” she said, muffled by the fact that her face was still pressed against Jimmy’s shoulder. She pulled away to smile teasingly at Dean. “But my mom’s is still better.”

Dean and Jimmy both laughed. “I’m sure it is, Claire,” Dean said, still grinning.

“How about some pumpkin pie to celebrate this new understanding?” Jimmy suggested as they all sat down again.

Jimmy reached for the pie to start cutting pieces when Claire grabbed his hand and shouted “No!” When her father gave her a confused look, she explained. “I, umm… may have sabotaged the pie when Mom wasn’t looking?” She gave a hesitant smile that begged them to not be angry with her.

“You ruined pie,” Dean said in an overdramatic way. “That’s practically a sin.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, looking it. Until Dean started laughing.

“Gives me an excuse to make another one later, at least,” he said, still chuckling a little.

“You were prepared for this?” Jimmy asked.

“Not really,” Dean admitted. “I just wanted to make sure there was enough pie for leftovers.”

Jimmy smiled at his pie-obsessed fiance. “Of course you did.”

“Can we still watch a movie after we finish cleaning up?” Claire asked, back to herself now that she didn’t have to play the part of the angry teenager any more.

“Of course we can,” Jimmy said, getting up to start clearing the table.

“We always watch my favorite Christmas movie after Thanksgiving dinner,” Claire explained as she got up to help Jimmy.

“Christmas already?” Dean groaned. “I’m still digesting the cranberry sauce. Can’t it wait at least one more day?” He complained.

“Die Hard is a freaking classic,” Claire argued.

“Wait, Die Hard is your favorite Christmas movie?” Dean asked. When Claire nodded, Dean’s face split into a wide grin. “I like her,” he said to Jimmy. Jimmy only shook his head and laughed. He knew they’d get along. Eventually.


End file.
